Kandapper Chinniah Kamalasabayson (8 April 1949 – 12 August 2007) was a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

lawyer,

Solicitor General of Sri Lanka The solicitor general of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka, attorney general of Sri Lanka. The solicitor general of Sri Lanka assists the attorney general, and is assisted by four additional solicitors general. ...

and

Attorney General of Sri Lanka The attorney general of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The attorney general is usually a highly respected senior advocate, and is appointed by the ruling go ...

Early life and family

Kamalasabayson was born on 8 April 1949 in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

, eastern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He was the son of V. K. Chinniah, a landed proprietor and philanthropist. Kamalasabayson's brother K. C. Kamalanathan was Principal State Counsel in Zambia and Principal Crown Prosecutor in Lesotho. Kamalasabayson was educated at Colombo Hindu Primary School and

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

. After school he joined

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

, graduating in November 1971 with a first class honours pass. He later received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in public law from the

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

(1994) and a master's degree in international business law from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(1995). Kamalasabayson married Ramani. They had a daughter, Vidya.

Career

Kamalasabayson became an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

of the Supreme Court on 23 June 1972. He worked at the

Unofficial Bar The unofficial bar in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separa ...

in the chambers of G. F. Sethukavalar and E. Balanadarajah before joining the Attorney-General's Department as an acting State Counsel on 1 August 1974. He was promoted to Senior State Counsel (1983), Deputy Solicitor General (1992) and Additional Solicitor General (1 March 1996). He was made a

President's Counsel A president's counsel ( postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing ...

in 1996. He became

Solicitor-General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

on 1 December 1998 before being promoted to

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

on 15 October 1999. He retired on 7 April 2007. Kamalasabayson was a

visiting lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

Faculty of Law, University of Colombo Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

Open University of Sri Lanka The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL; , ) is a national university in Sri Lanka. It is unique within the Sri Lankan national university system for being the only university to offer programs of study leading to certificate, diploma, degrees ...

and

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

where he was also an examiner. He was appointed to the Council of Legal Education of Sri Lanka in 1998. He had completed the Legal Advisors' course at the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) is a member institute of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Founded in 1947, it is a national academic centre of excellence, serving the legal community and universities across the ...

, International Contract Negotiation course at the

International Law Institute The International Law Institute, also known as the ILI, was founded as part of Georgetown University in 1955. The ILI provides training and technical assistance for the legal, economic and financial problems of developing countries and emerging e ...

and the Construction Contracts course at the

International Development Law Institute The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law. With a joint focus on the promotion of rule of law and development, it works to empower people and commun ...

. He was appointed to the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka on 18 July 2007. Kamalasabayson died on 12 August 2007 at

Apollo Hospital Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is an Indian multinational healthcare group headquartered in Chennai. It is the largest for-profit private hospital network in India, with a network of 71 owned and managed hospitals. Along with the eponymo ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamalasabayson, K. C. 1949 births 2007 deaths Academic staff of Sri Lanka Law College Academic staff of the Open University of Sri Lanka Academic staff of the University of Colombo Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Colombo Hindu College Alumni of King's College London Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of the University of Colombo Attorneys general of Sri Lanka Ceylonese advocates People from Trincomalee President's Counsels (Sri Lanka) Solicitors general of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan academics Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers